Paul – the end.

Paul – the end.  2 Timothy 4.6-16

Good Day. 

This is hard for me to write, as I just cannot believe it has come down to this—Paul is to be executed.  Soldiers roughly grab him out of his dank Roman prison cell under orders from Nero that he is to face beheading.  Oh, Paul knew this day would likely come; almost as soon as he began preaching the gospel, men had sought to kill him.  Nothing deterred Paul from his calling.  He had determined that he would do anything for the cause of Christ.  “I have become all things to all men, so that I might by all means save some.”¹  “The important thing is that in every way …Christ is preached.  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”²    

Always before this, God had spared his life—from riots, stoning, and shipwrecks, but he knew this time was different. 

Permit me please to comment that we have now arrived at the final stop in Paul’s writings—the close of his second letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, who he dearly loved.  Incarcerated once again, this time in Rome, Paul knew that he was facing a cruel death at the hands of the Romans.  This is the 13^th letter of Paul’s that we have studied through—all are archived at www.pastorwoman.com - and may be accessed free of charge. 

Now he acknowledges to Timothy, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.                                                                     I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,                                        I have kept the faith.                                                                                                Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,  which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Do your best to come to me quickly-”³  His affection for Timothy and his desire to be with him are evident.  In addition, he asks him to bring his scrolls and parchments – scriptures that he wished to be studying.  [Note to self:  right up to the closing scene of his life, Paul is learning, keeping himself steeped in God’s Word—a good part of the reason he is finishing race well.]

Demas, Paul’s companion, forsook him at his greatest hour of need.  Imagine, he had traveled with Paul— knew his heart for God and love for the people, saw him teach, heard him pray, and still turned away from him!  Yet as much as he loved Demas, Paul kept moving forward, true to the call of God.  ‘Stay faithful, Timothy,’ Paul is telling his young friend, ‘no matter who stays and who goes.’  You know, like Demas with Paul, people close to us can hurt us deeply, some may even reject us as we grow closer to God … what will be our reaction—especially when they are people we love, people we thought loved us?  We must purpose to stay faithful, we must stay faithful – to God and to what he has called us to do.

There was never any retreat with Paul, and we do not sense any regret either.  No self pity. Remarkable, to say the least.  He is anxious for Timothy to come to him, but the Bible gives us no indication that Timothy made it to Paul in time. 

Paul names Alexander the metalworker as someone Timothy should be on guard against, as he had apparently betrayed Paul to the Roman authorities.  Then Paul goes on to say, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.”⁴ It harkens back to the time when Jesus was on trial, does it not?  No one stood up to speak a word in his defense, no one stood by his side, and in fact, two of Jesus’ closest friends betrayed him.  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,⁵” Jesus said.  And Paul similarly said, ‘May the Lord not lay it to their account.’⁶

Paul does name one who was with him – Luke.  Luke, the physician and writer of the gospel and the book of Acts … Luke was somewhere near Paul, no doubt tending to him as he was permitted.  We all need a Luke, friends, someone who will stay, someone who will be with us, even in our darkest times. 

Do you have a Luke in your life?  If so, express your gratitude and appreciation; if not, put yourself in a position to meet one—and to be Luke in return.  Seek out a community of believers, who are on the journey together, those who are wanting to follow Christ and ‘be Christ’ to others in this lonely world.  We are not meant to live life without the intimacy and companionship of other Christ-minded, loving people.  Again, Paul is our example.  Amen.